SCHULZ, Walter Benjamin
| Service Number: | 1685 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 19 October 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 47th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Haigslea, Queensland, Australia, 6 July 1896 |
| Home Town: | Aramac, Barcaldine, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Station hand |
| Died: | Toowoomba, Queensland, 27 July 1974, aged 78 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: | Not yet discovered |
| Memorials: | Aramac War Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 19 Oct 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 1685, 31st Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 3 Jan 1916: | Involvement Private, 1685, 31st Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '16' embarkation_place: Brisbane embarkation_ship: HMAT Kyarra embarkation_ship_number: A55 public_note: '' | |
| 3 Jan 1916: | Embarked Private, 1685, 31st Infantry Battalion, HMAT Kyarra, Brisbane | |
| 2 Apr 1916: | Transferred AIF WW1, Private, 47th Infantry Battalion | |
| 5 Apr 1918: | Honoured Military Medal, Dernancourt/Ancre |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
Walter and his brother, John Julius Schulz, were living and working on a station, Marie Downs, Aramac, Queensland, when they enlisted during 1915 and were both posted to the 31st Battalion, leaving Australia on 3 January 1916. They both transferred to the 47th Battalion during the ‘doubling’ of the AIF in early 1916.
Walter was wounded in action near Mouquet Farm on 30 August 1916. Shot in the back, he was treated in France and returned to his unit on 5 October 1916. He was soon wounded again a few weeks later in November 1916, this time more seriously, and he was evacuated to England with a gunshot wound to his left arm. He was not sent back to the Western Front until 14 November 1917.
During the desperate defence of the railway embankment near Dernancourt, in April 1918, Walter Schulz was awarded a Military Medal. The recommendation for his award is as fearless and dauntless as one would find in the annals of the AIF.
“For consistent good work and gallantry in action at Dernancourt on 3 April 1918 and later on 5 April 1918. On the former date he was in charge of a Lewis Gun and by his skillful use of it was in a large measure responsible for driving off the enemy attack with the loss of 80 dead.
On the 5 April he was part of a platoon which accounted for 400 dead in front of their post. His own gun was rendered useless by so much firing, so he clambered over the parapet and got a machine gun from the enemy which he used on them. He maintained fire till the end and by his devotion and resource prevented intrusion into our line. The enemy was at such close quarters that he used his revolver whilst changing magazines.”
Walter was transferred to the 45th Battalion soon after as the 47th Battalion was so badly mauled at Dernancourt it was disbanded in May 1918. He was eventually returned to Australia in 1919.
His brother, John Schulz, also of the 47th Battalion, was also decorated with a Military Cross and returned to Australia with the rank of Lieutenant in 1918.
Walter 'Ben' Schulz married in 1924 and raised four children, passing away in 1974.
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